CENTERVILLE, Mass., March 22, 2005 – Follow A Dream, Inc., a non-profit organization that inspires youth and adults with the power of positive thinking and self-determination, kicked off it’s 2005 racing season at the NHRA Mac Tools Gaternationals in Gainesville Florida by running within .05 seconds of the current NHRA National Record, and setting the fastest time during eliminations.

The NHRA Gaternationals is the first National Event east of the Mississippi and know for its tough competition and unpredictable weather. Well this year was no exception especially for the Follow A Dream race team. The first two days of the event were hamper by rain and temperatures that reached below freezing at times, preventing any racing the first two days. When the sun arrived the Follow A Dream Team was ready earning a top five qualifying position on Saturday and continuing to take that performance into Sunday. On Sunday the team recorded a career best run of 5.56 seconds @ 258 mph, a run that held as the fastest run during eliminations. Unfortunately in the in the quarter finals the car experienced violent tire shake, driver Dave Ray attempted to complete the run but had to abort when the car became too close to the centerline, which allowed Jay Payne, last years second highest points earner nationally, to get by the Follow A Dream car for the win. ESPN will air this race and an interview with Dave and Jay on April 6. The ABC affiliate in Gainesville also did a spotlight on Jay that aired regionally during the event. The team’s next race is the NHRA O’Rielly Auto Parts Spring Nationals in Houston Texas April 8th through the 12th. This race is in conjunction with the southwestern leg of Jay Blake’s Follow A Dream “Tools for Life’s Success” speaking tour.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - After coming into this past weekend's Mac Tools Gatornationals hot off a win in Houston, Tate Branch and the Bar's Leaks Repair It/ Branch-Etterman Racing team lost a close race in the quarterfinals on Sunday. Not discouraged, the team is ready to pick up and do battle at their next race in Houston.

Branch, from Artesia, N.M., qualified the Bar's Leaks Repair It Camaro third in the stout field with a solid 5.564 at 257.58 mph. He then ran a 5.704 in round one to defeat Jeff McCulloch. In his quarterfinal match with Mick Snyder, Branch jumped out to a huge .015 to .113 holeshot, but encountered heavy tire shake and slowed to a 5.789 at 253.79 mph to be edged out by a mere .009 of a second by Snyder's quicker-but-later 5.682 at 250.76 mph.

"We just missed the call on the tune-up," stated Branch. "The track was better than we thought it was. The car was really running strong all weekend. We should be able to bounce back into the .50's in Houston. We're all looking forward to that race."

The next race for the Bar's Leaks Repair It/ Branch-Etterman team will be the O'Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park, April 15-17. Two weeks ago, Branch won the Lucas Oil Series divisional held there.

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Force, who was featured in the April 2005 issue of the magazine along side of ten other female racers, most of which race car drivers, was delighted to win. “I am surprised and excited that I won. It’s great to be a part of the rising number of women pushing our way into racing,” said the 22-year old.

Out of 15,000 + votes Force, the daughter of 13-Time Funny Car Champion, John Force, has 6800 votes and the poles aren’t closed yet.

The first 500 readers to cast their vote on HOTROD.com will receive a full-sized poster of female Force.

Coming off of a runner up finish at the Mac Tools Gatornationals, the California State University – Fullerton graduate is set to compete her 3,000 horsepower A/Fuel dragster sponsored by Castrol, Hot Wheels, AAA, Ford and Mac Tools in the 18th Annual O’Reilly Spring Nationals in Houston, Tex., April 8 – 10.

Gainesville, FL. - This past weekend's NHRA / POWERADE Drag Racing Series National Event at Gainesville Raceway. just outside of Gainesville, Florida was the second National Event of the year for the Torco Race Fuels / Wilson Racing Top Alcohol Dragster Team.

Wilson, from Winfield, Mo., was very disappointed after qualifying 17th with a 5.65 with a bad battery in weather conditions that were less ideal. They received one qualifying session Friday and one more on Saturday. "This is the first DNQ for this team in almost 2 years and we hope its the last for a long time. This was not our first event of the year, but it sure felt it like. We found the gremlins hiding in the valvetrain but failed to get rid of them in other areas.". stated Wilson. "This is the reason we went to Gainesville, so we could make sure we were going in the right direction."

"This past weekend is just another example of how important each and every qualifying session is. We only received 2 sessions due to rain on Thursday and Friday morning and the last session would have been enough to get us in the show. We only needed another .08 of a second to qualify and we were two tenths slower than we have been all year. This will only make us work harder to try to keep this from happening again." stated Wilson.

Wilson Racing is already preparing for the next event in Houston in less than 3 weeks and wants to keep focused on all the positive that they have experienced so far this year. "We were number 3rd in Points Nationally prior to this weekend and plan on putting this past weekend behind us. We were not able to qualify like we had hoped but we learned a great deal and we will be ready for Houston". stated Wilson.

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – Female racer Ashley Force advanced to the final round of competition after qualifying third at the 36th Annual Mac Tools Gatornationals.

Force, who competes in the Top Alcohol Dragster category defeated Dave Hirata, Ken Perry and Michael Gunderson before being defeated by Aaron Olivarez in the money round.

“Congratulations to Aaron on his first win,” expressed Ashley, who lost to Olivarez by one and one-half thousandth of a second. Olivarez recorded a 5.408 second elapsed time to Force’s 5.401.

“I had a pretty good feeling about this day,” said Force. “Though second round felt like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. The car danced all around the track. It wanted to go everywhere but straight.”

Throughout the weekend the 22-year old sponsored by Castrol, Hot Wheels, Automobile Club of Southern California, Ford and Mac Tools kept her 3000 horsepower injected dragster consistent through the watchful eye of co-owner and crew chief, Jerry Darien. “All of our pre-season testing helped us throughout the day as the weather got hot,” Darien stated.

Before running the finals, Ashley’s father 13-Time NHRA Funny Car Champion, John Force urged his daughter, “This boy’s good so get after him.” Darien returned, “This ol’ girl’s pretty good too.”

The California girl will next return to Houston for the O’Reilly Spring Nationals April 8-10.

Spitzer Race Cars will sponsor low qualifier bonuses for Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car racers at the six 2005 North Central Division NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events. In addition to the individual awards, Spitzer Race Cars has posted year-end bonuses in each category and added money for any new track elapsed time records set.

Low qualifiers in Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car will receive $500 at each event. A year-end bonus of $1,000 and special trophy will be awarded by Spitzer Race Cars in each category at the annual “Land of the Winners” banquet to the driver accumulating the most qualifying points in the six races. Qualifying points for the bonus will be awarded with 16 pt. for the low qualifier, 15 pt. for number two qualifiers, etc.

Any driver setting a new Top Alcohol Dragster or Top Alcohol Funny Car elapsed time track record at Indianapolis Raceway Park, April 15-17; Mid-Michigan Motorplex, July 1-3; Route 66 Raceway, July 15-17; Edgewater Sports Park, Aug. 5-7; Beech Bend Raceway Park, Aug. 26-28 or National Trail Raceway, Sept. 23-25 will be awarded $500.

Spitzer Race Cars is one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of full-size dragsters, altereds, roadsters and racing composites, as well as, Jr. dragsters. Known for contemporary designs and superb craftsmanship, Spitzer Race Cars designs, fabricates and assembles race cars in their complex in Greenfield, Ind. – just east of Indianapolis – with over 20,000 square feet of working space.

For more information on the North Central Division racing season log onto www.nhradiv3.com and for more information on Spitzer Race Cars contact them at 317-894-9533...

Snyder Honored with Best Appearing Crew Award During Semi-final Finish

The Snyder Motorsports TORCO Racing Fuels sponsored Top Alcohol Funny Car experienced success on many levels at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida this past weekend. During the weekend they debuted their brand new paint scheme and crew uniforms and were subsequently honored with the Best Appearing Crew Award. Driver Mick Snyder, who is responsible for the design of the new car and The Winning Team crew shirts, said, “It was a pleasant surprise for all of us. There are a lot of professional teams out here and we are truly honored to be recognized.”

The Team also experienced success during race day. Snyder qualified #6 with a 5.65 elapsed time at 250.83 mph and earned his first semi-final finish of the season by outperforming his competitors. The Team won its first and second rounds Sunday morning running 5.70 at 247.25 mph and 5.68 at 250.76, respectively. In the semi-finals, Snyder had a large hole shot on his competitor, but was unable to hold on when the car overpowered the racetrack and coasted the remainder of the quarter mile.

The Snyder Motorsports Top Alcohol Funny Car entry is sponsored by TORCO Racing Fuels. By logging onto www.torcoracefuels.com you can access their full line of innovative products including racing gasoline, additives, and clothing.

Allen Middendorf of St. Louis MO. completed his license runs in Holley & Woosley's A-Fuel Dragster on Thursday March the 10th at a test session before the division 4 points race at Houston Raceway Park. The final run was 5.84 @ 233 mph. Allen will be the driver of the car owned and tuned by Bob & Chris Holley of Freeport, Texas for the 2005 season. The team will compete in all division 4 races and selected National events. The next race will be at the Houston Nationals.

Wilson, from Winfield, Mo., was pleased after qualifying 4th with a 5.45 in only their second race of the year, especially after the parts problems they encountered at Pomona." We are still experiencing some problems but nothing like what we went through at our first event. We have narrowed the problem down to a few parts that will be replaced prior to this weekend and we feel pretty confident heading to Gainesville". stated Wilson.

"We are very happy to have made it to the finals this weekend, not only for our Team and Sponsors but this has helped us better prepare for the MAC Tools Gatornationals this weekend in Florida. This class is getting tougher each and every race and for us to take out Ashley Force in the semi finals was a moral boost for the entire team." stated Wilson "This is a team effort and to runner-up in only our second event of the year is a great way to start the season even though we smoked the tires in the finals".

Wilson Racing is already preparing for this weekends race in Gainesville, Florida, home of the MAC Tools Gatornationals. "We just want to keep the momentum going and keep improving each event and the next step is the winners circle. This weekend is also to help us prepare for the Division 3 opener at Indy. We won the Division 3 opener last year at Indy and we would love to repeat again this year and The MAC Tools Gatornationals is the next step in that direction". stated Wilson.